Cane-crushing apparatus



H. HURTER.

CANE CRUSHING APPARATUS.

lou man Mum 1919.

,.j ma.,

apparatus having f 'UNITED en -Aras PATENT. OFFICE..

HENRY HUBTER, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T0 FULTON IRON WORKS COM- PANY, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A. CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

'CANE-cansnme APPARATUS.

Speoieation of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern,- 'Be it known that I,HENBY IPIURTER, a c1t1- zen of the United States of America, a resi-l dent/of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cane-Crushing Apparatus, of which the 4following is clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification.

y invention relates to improvements incane crushing apparatus. The object sought by thevv invention is to grind a maximum tonnage of cane with the highest possible lextraction of juice at a lminimum operating cost. Prior to this invention it has been known that the juice can be more effectively cane by operating the crushing rolls at a relatively low speed, and

that an increase in speed will result in a decrease in the efiiciency of the apparatus.V

It is, however, desirable to operate the crushing or grinding rolls at the maximum speed so` as to grind the maximum tonnage per dai y object is to produce a cane crushing its crushing rolls so constructed and arranged4 that thel desired high efficiency can be obtained while the rolls are driven at a relatively high speed, thereby obtaining a'maximumyield of juice while the cane is rapidly acted upon by the crushing rolls.

'To accomplish both of the-se results at thefsame time, Il utilizfe a series of crushers or mills which act successively upon the cane, and the elements of each crusher are so constructed and arranged that the cane crushed thereby is placed in a conditionto be most effectively acted upon bythe next succeeding crusher. It will be important to note the proportions and arrangement of the crushing ribs on the different crushers about to be described, for the ribs differ from each other, each crusher being provided with ribs adapted to most effectively act upon the cane delivered thereto, and also adapted to place `the cane in such a condition that the next succeeding crusher will perform its function most effectively.. Each crusher is thus constructed and arranged to most efficiently perform the twofold function of expressing the juice. while the cane is traveling at a high rate of speed, at the'same time properly preparing the cane for the lsubsequent a full,

tively perform ,their function, and the same Patented'May 11,1920.

ribs of a particular crusher, and this crusher must properly prepare the cane for the operation at. the next succeeding crusher. f the cane 11s not properly prepared for the treatment it is toreceive at a particular set f of crushing ribs, the ribs cannot most effecwould be true if the ribs were not properly formed to obtain the highest efficiency:

- '.Ihe preferred form ofthe invention comprlses a primary crusher having crushing rolls provided with relativelylar'ge peripheral ribs. whereby the mass ofc'ane passing `into the apparatus is subjected to a prelimmary crushing, which prepares it for the second crusher having smaller ribs of less pitch than the ribs of the primary crusher.

F rom4 this secondcrusher the cane" preferablypasses to a cane mill comprising three crushing rolls with relatively small ribs of less pitch than the ribs 'of the second crusher,

and after being actedupon by these ribsv the cane passes to a second mill having still finer ribs, and thence through a series of lcane mills having ribs which preferablycorrespondl approximately to the fine ribs of the second mill. The cane 'is thus successively acteduponby aV series of crushing rolls, or Juice-expressing rolls, and the cane engaging ribs of each crusher between the ends of the ap aratus are properly formed to perform t e twofoldfunction of treating the cane with the highest efficiency and at the same vtime preparing the cane for the next succeeding crushing ribs.

Figure I is a diagrammatical view of a cane crushing apparatus embodying the features of this invention.

Fig. II is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the coarse crushing ribs on the rolls ofthe first crusher.

Fig. III is a view similar to Fig. II, drawn to the same scale, and illustrating the cooperating crushing ribs on. the rolls of the second crusher.

Fig. IV is a fragmentary View drawn to the scale of Figs. II and III, and showing the ribs` ony the periphery of one'of the rolls of the first mill. j Fig. V likewise illustrates the finer ribs on'the rolls vof the second,third, fourth and fifth mills. I,

To illustrate the invention I have shown a succession of crushers, or mills, adapted to act upon.v the cane which travels through4 *'the afparatus, as indicated by arrows 1n Fig. The first crusher comprises a air `1 of crushing rolls A provided. with peripheral crushing ribs 6. These ribs are preferably V-shaped in cross section, as shown y in Fig.II, and the lribs of one of the rolls A l the ribsof each roll being extended 'into the p prises a pair of crushing rolls B provided 204 lpreferably overlap the Aribs of the other roll,

vcorrespondin 'peri' heral grooves formed in the other ro l.l he second crusher comwith ribs 7, which correspond approxi-v matelyto the shape of the ribs in the first crusher., However, the ribs 7 of thesecond' crusher are preferably of less pitch and smaller than the ribs of the first crusher. Furthermore, the coperating ribs of the -second crusher are preferably located relatively close to each other, as shown byFig.

- III. The first mill comprises'three coper-A ating rolls arranged as shown in Fig. I; C designates the-top roll ofthe first mill, D designates a lower roll, usuallytermed a cane roll, and E desi nates a roll usually termed the ba asse ro Eachlof these rolls. C,'D and is provided with eriph- `eral crushing ribs 8 (Fig. IV), whlch are conform to the dimensions indicated in Figs.

II to V, inclusive, wherein the pitch of the ribs "on the first crusher is 3?(y inches, on the second crushenQ inches, on-the first mill 1 inch 4and on the'remaining mills JZ inch. It

is to be understood, however, that. the inven- 'tion'is' not limited to the use of crushing ribsjof the dimensions indicated in the draw- 'sh'e rotatable crushing rolls are provided with journals 10 adapted to be mountedin suitable lbearin s, but since such bearings,

are old and wel known inthe art'- I do not deem it necessary to illustrate them in the drawings.' For the same reason I 'have-f omitted the driving mechanism and variousl,

in apparatus. he large ribs 6 4of other details ordinarily used in cane 'crushthe .first crusher are adapted to mash and compress the cane passin into the apparatus and the rotating rolls where ,it is acted upon by the finer? ribs 7 which are properly designed to split and feedthe cane tot 1e second crusher shred the mass of compressed cane, thereby preparing the cane for the next operation at the stlll finer teeth-8 on the rolls of the 'first mill. Therolls C, D and E of this mill Q are separated from leach other to receive the large mass `of cane passing from the second crusher, and the fine ribs 8 on these separated rolls can-best perform their crushing and ]u1cee`xpress1ng functions on ay mass that lhas been subjected' to a preliminary treatment by the successive action of teeth 6 and 7 on the first and second Crushers. After the cane has been gradually compressed, broken, split and crushed by the first and second crusher and the first mill,'it is in the form of a more or less compact mat, and this mat is fed to the still finer ribs 9of the second mill. lThe rolls of thismill are preferably closer' to eachother than the corresponding rolls of the'first mill, andthe fineribs 9 are designed to most effectively squeeze ythejuice from a mat of cane in the condition of the mat passing from the first mill. In fact, I have found by actual experience that the ribs 9, formed as herein shown, are far superior to' the larger ribs in expressing the juice from the prepared v mat of cane, and Vfine teeth of this kind are well `ada ted to perform the subsequent operations 1n the third, fourth and fifth mills. I prefer, however, to arrange'the coperating rolls o'f the last mentioned mills closer to each other than the corresponding rollsl of the second mill. y

VTo fully appreciate the value of effective Vcrushing `and high speed or high capacity,

it shouldbe understood that an apparatus of the kind herein disclosed is a very large structure capable'of crushing more than a thousand tons of cane per day, and the yparticular structure herein shown has been found to possess the desired high efficiency wheny operated fast enough to grind 3500 tons ofcane per day. This unusual combina- ',tion of speed and efficiency is due to the peculiar manner in which the several crushing elements are assoclated with each other, so

as to yenable each crusher to most effectively perform its own function and at the same time place'the cane in condition for a cor-v respondingly effective action at the next succeeding crushing elements. i"

I claim:

-1. In a combined cane-crushing and juiceexpressing apparatus, a primary crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls having coperating peripheral crushing ribs, a second crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls arranged in advance of the primary vvcrusher to receive the cane passing therecircumferentially of the rolls, a secondl crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls arranged in advance of the primar crusher to`receive the ycane passing there rom, the rolls of said second crusher being provided with circumferential crushin ribs of less pitch than the crushing ribs o said primary crusher, and a succession of juice-expressing mills arranged in advance of said secon crusher to successively act upon the cane passing therefrom, eachl of said juice-expressing mills being provided With juiceexpressing rolls having circumferential ribs of less pitch than the ribs of said second crusher. v

3. A combined cane-crushing and juiceexpressing apparatus comprising four preliminary sets of peripherally ribbed rolls whereby the cane is successively acted upon,

the second set -hav1ng finer ribs than the first set, the third set having finer ribs than the second, and the fourth set having finer ribs than the third, and 4juice-expressing rolls to which the cane is delivered from said four preliminary sets of rolls.

4. A combined cane-crushing and juiceexpressing apparatus comprising four preliminary sets of peripherally ribbed'rolls whereby the cane is successively acted upon,

the second set having finer ribs than the first set, the third set having finer ribs than the second, and the fourth set having finer ribs than the third,` and a series of peripherally ribbed juice-expressing mills to which the cane is delivered from said four preliminary sets of rolls.

5. In a combined cane-crushing and juicea primary crusher.

-pressing mill juice-expressing mill arranged in advance of said second crusher to receive the cane passing therefrom, said juice-expressing mill "comprising three coperating luiceexpressing'rolls having peripheral ri s of less pitch than the ribs of said second crusher, and a second juice-expressing mill arranged in advance of the aforesaid juice expressing mill to act upon the cane passing therefrom, the rolls of Lsaid second juice-eX- being provided with peripheral ribs of less pitch than the ribs of the first mentioned juice-expressing mill.

6. In a combined cane-crushing and juiceexpressing apparatus, a primary crusher comprising a pairv of crushing rolls having coperating peripheral crushing ribs, a second crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls arranged in advanceof the primary crusher to receive the cane passing therefrom, the rolls' of said second crusher being provided with peripheral crushing ribs of less pitch than the .crushing ribs of said primary crusher, .a juice-expressing mill arranged in advance of said second crusher to receive the cane passing therefrom, said juice-expressing mill comprising three c0- operating juice-expressing rolls having peripheralribs ofless pitch than the ribs of said second crusher, and a succession of three-roll juice-expressing mills arranged in advance of the aforesaid juice expressing mill to successively act upon thev cane passing therefrom, the rolls of said succession of juice-expressi'n mills being provided with peripheral ri s of less pitch than the ribsof the first mentioned juice-expressing mill.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing I 100 hereunto affix my' signature.

` l HENRY HURTER. 

